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Saturday, August 6, 2011

How to Add Molding to Your Doors- Door Header Tutorial

Hey ya’ll! Recently I was blessed to be asked to review some paint brushes by Purdy and of course I said, “yes”! I knew I had some things coming up I could use them on and this project was one of them!

Here’s what they sent me! Woo hoo! I’ll tell you up front these are the best brushes I have EVER used! (but keep reading…you’re gonna want to see what I painted with these brushes..and get the tutorial! lol)

I have been wanting to do some updating to my doors for a while now and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do until I saw what Emily did to her doors. (she was inspired by Diann)
I’ll show you how I went from this……
this….
and this….

To this……
this…..

and this……

To get started you’ll need pre-primed MDF boards from Lowes…I bought 3 1/2” wide x 8’ long boards for $6.76 each. Each piece did two doors. (well the regular sized doors…I bought longer pieces for the bigger doors)
First I measured the width across my doorways from the outside edge of the door facing (most of my doors were 38” wide.)

I then took my board and cut it with my handy dandy miter saw and nailed it above the doorway like this…

The next step was crown molding (I had some left over from another project and just bought a little extra to finish up)

Crown molding is a little bit tricky to cut…you have to cut while it’s resting at an angle and upside down…like this. (see how the little curved part is facing up…that’s actually the bottom of the crown. Also, it’s angled just like it would be when it’s installed) You cut it at 45degree angles on each end, and to the length of your board that you’ve already nailed up.

Like this…. (see how the bottom edge of the 45 degree cut is right on the edge of the board that you already installed? This is what you want it to look like on each end)
The next step is to cut little pieces that will fit into that space on the end. Your side pieces will have one 45 degree cut that matches the 45 that you just cut, plus it will have a straight cut that goes against the wall. (these too are cut upside down and angled)
They’ll look like this when they’re in place

I just put some glue on the angled side……
stuck it in position and used painters tape to help hold it in place until the glue dried. Do NOT try to nail this piece in place, it will split out your wood.
I installed a little decorative piece of half round next, to hide where the 3 1/2” piece of MDF joined with the regular facing. I just glued that piece up too and taped it until it dried.
After the glue dried, I primed all the doors with my Kilz 2 primer and my Purdy brushes!
I have to tell you, I LOVE these brushes! I used to think I was doing the smart thing by just using the little foam brushes that I could throw away when I finished using them, but I was wrong! I think I’d have been much better off buying a reusable Purdy brush and just keep using it over and over…these have been amazing! They come in these cute little boxes that you can reuse once you clean your brushes…it keeps the bristles nice and straight.

I also enjoyed using a brush with a real wood handle….they were very comfortable to hold. (and let me tell you, I held them for a LONG time…LOTS of painting with these doors!)

The paint went on beautifully with these brushes, BUT

(ha, you thought I was going to say something negative didn’t you!) Nope, I was going to say, BUT, my favorite part was the angled brushes…they made getting the sides of the doors a breeze to paint! (and it was with no painters tape!) The only time I used painters tape was to hold the wood while the glue dried! lol

So lets see the before and afters one more time shall we?! (cause we all know that’s our favorite part!)

Ok..to wrap it up, I sawed, I nailed, I glued, I primed and I painted and now I’m in LOVE with my doors and the Purdy Brushes!
If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask away!
Hugs!
Missy
Linking up to Beneath My Heart

Oh my! I am a huge SUCKER for great moldings so I am swooning over your new door moldings. FABULOUS!

And I'm a Purdy brush lover too, although I only have one...a 1 inch angled brush I use for everything. I guard that brush with my life and hide it when I'm not using it! LOL. One of the best things I've noticed about my Purdy brush is how nice and easy the paint rinses out of the bristles.

Oh my goodness Missy!! You always make my eyes pop out! I love, love, love what you did to your doors and thank you so much for sharing how you did it! I will be getting Mr Deekie Belle to read this so he can do it to our doors (I would but I am useless with 'men' tools and heights!!)Hope you are having a lovely weekend!Big huggles from Down under!Jen xoxox

Oh Missy, this really gives an elegant look to all the doorways and walk thrus! You made it look easy...well, for my husband to do anyway! I just bought some really cheap brushes and I did look at the Purdy's. I am thinking I need to go back and purchase the Purdy's! Another job well done Missy! I bet your husband is just in "awe" of you!~Hugs, Patti

You certainly made that look easy (and I know it's not!) It really adds such a look of grace. I walked around and looked at my doorways and thought hmmm - I wish we lived closer. lol While I can do somethings, crown molding didn't make the list. I can't think upside down and backwards. Really, it's what you have to do, no? At any rate, it looks lovely and thumbs up!

You are totally amazing, you just get in there and do it! The door frames look so much more substantial and high end now. I want to learn how to miter things, but i remember trying it once, and holding a piece of wood, and the little miter box and thinking "now what" my brain can't do it!

Holy cow! I love it! I had not thought of just adding to the current molding...I always thought I would need to remove and replace. I love it! Especially over the front entry...very fancy and just perfect! Thanks for sharing!

I have a questions about these beautiful doorways. I was going through the tutorial and it looks like there is a gap behind the crown molding. Do you cover that on the top or how do you clean back there? Maybe just a vaccuum attachment...

This is the most understandable tutorial I've ever seen for crown molding ... your use of the power tools is to be admired! Love the room "identities" hanging over the doorways - so elegant! A project I definitely want to do!

I agree with Kathleen - this was the most understandable tutorial. I am terrible w measurements and angles and all that but reading thru it makes sense in my head how to do it. Looking forward to trying this! Found thru Pinterest. Thanks so much for sharing!

I don't know how I got to this page as I started way back and followed the links to here! I am doing this on my doorway and I love the tutorial you have. I think I made mine way to hard!!! So glad I found you!!! Hugs, Bj@Joy2Journey